Chapter 34

The house was a frantic mess as we ran around, trying to get ready in time.  Today was the Teen Choice Awards and of course Nicole had woken up late.  The Lynch’s were expecting us next door in thirty minutes and Nicole had just gotten out of the shower. 

“Has anyone seen my mascara?” Mary calls from her room.  I add the finishing touches to my make-up and go help Mary with her current crisis.  “Never mind, I found it,” she says, holding up the tube as I come to a stop in her doorway. 

“Oh, you look amazing!” Rachel gushes as she walks down the hallway and spots me.  “That dress really does look like it was made for you.”

“Thank you,” I beam and look down at myself.  The deep red color looked great with my skin tone which has become tanner than usual over these past three months.  The dress hugged me in all the right places and the one shoulder strap helped create the intricate cutout design that lined my back.  My black heels and dangling earrings completed the look. 

“Of course you’re ready,” Nicole sighs as she walks past me, wrapped in a towel. 

“Do you need help with anything?” I ask her.

“Just stall Riker if I’m not ready in time,” she replies, closing the door behind her.  Mary and I just teasingly roll our eyes at each other.

We walk into the Lynch’s house right on time and are relieved to see we weren’t the only ones running late.  “Boys, the limo is already here!  Get moving!” Stormie yells up the stairs.  “And the girls are here as well!” she adds after spotting us.  “Why don’t you all look lovely!” she exclaims, giving each of us a hug.  “You guys can just wait in the living room for everyone else.”

A few minutes later Rocky is the first one to come bounding down the stairs, followed soon after by Riker.  Both boys meet their girlfriends and greet them with a kiss, complementing them on their outfits. 

“Ross is still on the phone,” Ryland tells his mom as he joins us in the living room. 

“Well tell him to finish it up!  We’re going to be late,” Stormie exclaims, checking her phone again to see the time. 

“I’ll go get him,” I volunteer as I turn and climb up the stairs.  Ross’s bedroom store is left slightly ajar and I stop myself just before I’m about to walk in as something catches my ear.

“I know, I’m really sorry, Laura,” my boyfriend says.  My blood runs cold at the sound of her name.  I tell myself to turn and walk back down the hallway but just like before, I find myself glued to the floor outside the door, leaning in to make sure I don’t miss a single word.

“I’m trying my best!  What more do you want from me?” he asks and all I can do I wish that I was able to hear Laura’s side of the conversation as well because, at this point, I haven’t the slightest clue as to what it is they’re talking about. 

“No, I’m not doing that…because I just won’t!” his voice rises.  “How about the end of next week?  That’s when she goes back home.”  That final statement makes my body go numb as I finally realize what they’re talking about.  Although I should have guessed it, something will be happening once I fly back home.  I try to calm myself down and convince myself that I’m just overreacting but my mind jumps to the worst conclusions possible. 

I can’t stand to hear any more.  I weigh my options and decide I’m better off hiding in the bathroom than running down the stairs and having to face everyone.  I close the door and shakily sit after putting the lid of the toilet down.  I know I can’t go to the award show!  Not anymore; not after what I heard.  Or what I thought I heard, I think, trying to convince myself that I’m overreacting.  I feel like a cartoon character in a TV show as I fight with the angel telling me to just talk to Ross because this is probably all a great, big misunderstanding.  But the voice of the red devil on my other shoulder is much louder as it tries to convince me that I was right all along about something going on between the two co-stars. 

I grow tense as I hear Ross walk past the door and head downstairs.  I creep towards the door and open it a crack in order to hear what everyone is talking about downstairs.  I listen as Stormie asks where I was and Ross replies that he never saw me come up stairs.  I panic as I hear Ross head towards the stairs coming in search to find me.  I close and lock the door, looking at my pale reflection in the mirror, my face mixed with a number of emotions.  I know I have to make a decision on what I’m going to do and I have to make it quick.  These past few days have been amazing ever since Ross and I told each other how we really feel but would that moment have even happened if it weren’t for Laura hitting on Ross?  Would it have happened if the fans weren’t so harsh on me, making it difficult for Ross and I to ever go out in public?  We still haven’t even talked about what was going to happen when I return home!  Were we going to have a long-distance relationship?  Would that relationship even work with my boyfriend constantly touring and meeting new people – new girls – all over the world?

The footsteps come to a stop and I hear a soft knock on the door.  “Elizabeth?  Are you in there?” Ross questions. 

“Yeah,” I weakly respond now that I have decided what to do next.

“Ok, well we got to get going now…” he trails off. 

I answer his response with a flush of the toilet.  I grab a Dixie cup off of the sink and fill it with water.  I swish the liquid around in my mouth and then spit it out into the sink.  Luckily my face is still pale and my hands are clammy so this won’t be too hard for me to pull off.  I take a deep breath and unlock the door. 

The sight of my boyfriend dressed in dark skinny jeans and a classic t-shirt with his leather jacket almost makes me change my mind.  “I don’t think I can go anymore.  I just got sick,” I tell him, not wanting to meet his eyes yet hoping that he’ll believe me. 

“No!  You’re fine, you’re just nervous,” Ross tries to reassure me and grabs my hands.  “I’ve been looking forward to showing you off to all my friends and letting the photographers prove that you’re all mine,” he says, his hands still clasped with mine as he leans his forehead against my own. 

“I know, me too,” I whisper.  “But can you tell them all that I say ‘hi’?”

Ross sighs heavily before telling me exactly what I was hoping to hear.  “Yeah, you just stay home and get some rest and I’ll text you all about the show and then skip the after parties so that I can be here to take care of my girl.”

My heart aches after hearing how sweet he can be but my mind is made up.  “Thanks babe.  You’re the best,” I kiss him on the cheek before he turns to go, telling me he’ll share the news with everyone downstairs and pushing me in the direction of his bedroom.    

I perch on the end of Ross’s bed and listen as the front door opens and everyone walks out.  I stand off to the side of the window so as to not be spotted and watch as they all disappear into the waiting black limo.  I refuse to let myself cry as I realize that may be the last time I ever see Ross. 

I hurry next door, knowing that if I want my plan to work I can’t waste any time dawdling around.  I start by calling a taxi, asking for it to come to the house in a half hour.  As the time quickly passes, I change into more comfortable clothes and squeeze everything into my suitcase.  I have about ten more minutes until the car is supposed to be here and I know I can’t put this off any longer.  I grab a blank sheet of paper from the printer in the living room and begin to write my note to Ross.

Ross, I’m sorry to say this, but it seems our time together has come to an end.  Summer is almost over and we’ll both be so busy in the fall that I don’t see this working. I hate to leave without saying good-bye in person but I know I wouldn’t be able to handle that. Enjoy your time with Laura. Love always, Elizabeth   

I dash back to the Lynch’s house and place the folded-up letter on Ross’s pillow.  As I’m walking back across the front lawn, the car pulls up right on time.  I signal that I’ll be right there as I grab my suitcase from the foyer of Rachel’s house.  I take one last look around before walking down the front path and climbing into the waiting car, directing the driver to take me to the airport. 

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I anxiously wait in one of the hard chairs, my legs bouncing up and down impatiently.  I was lucky enough to have been able to book a seat on a plane headed for Chicago that was leaving in an hour.  From there I planned to take a connecting flight back home. 

My mind couldn’t help but wander back to three months ago, almost to the day, when I was waiting in a similar airport to travel to a new place and see what it had in store for me.  Now it was time for me to leave this new place that has brought me many adventures and return to the boring yet painless life back in Buffalo. 

I wait in line as the plane starts to board, constantly checking my watch, wanting to be up in the air before Ross got back to find his bed empty.  I take an aisle seat in the middle of the plane and begin to concentrate on my breathing as I attempt to calm myself down.  I had never flown before by myself and the fact that I hated take-offs to begin with wasn’t helping my nervous and anxious stomach. 

A short while later we began to ascend into the air and my fingers continue to grip the arm rest, my eyes squeezed shut.  As soon as the captain tells us electronics are allowed to be turned on I plug in my earbuds and listen to my music for the rest of the flight.